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THE PLAN: GUIDELINES FOR AN EMERGING MIDDLETOWN

Middletown is a dynamic community of diverse elements: a strong Yankee heritage, an ethnically aware population, a noted private liberal arts college, quiet streets with single family homes, intensively developed residential areas with high rise or garden apartments, numerous State facilities, a successful municipal industrial park, and many health-related institutions.

Such various aspects of the City mean that development in a rational and coordinated manner depends on completeness and clarity of town goals. Explicit goals help those active in shaping Middletown's future look at daily issues within a framework. This legal framework is the City's comprehensive plan of development.

For Middletown, the best possible environment would be promoted through the adoption of objectives which facilitate the accomplishment of the following goals:

  1. To preserve, protect, and enhance the historical cultural, and natural resources and features of the community, and to preserve those elements that set the desirable and unique character of Middletown.
  2. To provide an educational system which effectively prepares students with necessary skills and the foundation to cope with a changing job market.
  3. To develop a balanced transportation system, including sidewalks and recreational trails for non-motorized vehicles.
  4. To encourage the appropriate coordinated, and economic use of land. Land should be acquired by the City to assure that the needs of the future Middletown are met. A long range community facilities program should be adopted and any needed sites should be acquired before all land is developed. Recreation facilities should be studied and needed land acquired. Above all, recreation facilities need to be coordinated with school programs, and with land required for drainage and conservation.
  5. To create an economically sound community by providing an economic climate favorable for commercial, industrial, and service related activity. The basis for this is a strong central business district, which is a focus for retail businesses and services offices, and public buildings.
  6. To provide and maintain a supply of high quality housing, which can accommodate a population of diverse economic levels, ethnic backgrounds and family size by providing ample freedom of choice in housing accommodations.
  7. To create a healthy, safe, pleasant and attractive environment in the community by setting the highest possible standards for working and living conditions in future development.
Citizen involvement in planning is essential in adopting and implementing a plan of development both responsive and relevant to local needs. In fact, state statutes mandate public participation in preparing the plan. This requirement is met by a public hearing. However, a hearing does not necessarily generate input to planning.

Recently when Middletown's plan has been amended, there have been no comments from the public.

To encourage public participation in planning Middletown, two citizen surveys were made by the Planning and Zoning Commission. Thus, information from Middletown citizens was obtained before a final version of the plan, when this information would have the most impact. The goals for an emerging Middletown are adapted from analysis of these surveys. Detailed materials derived from these surveys can be found in other documents previously published by the Planning and Zoning Commission.

 

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